Full in-depth report can be found on my blog.
Started the route at 9:20 in the parking lot across from the running store as prescribed. First bike leg went well, got through the first 20 miles in just over an hour like I'd hoped. Knew the last 10 miles were going to be slow since they contained most of the climbing. Final 10 miles took about 50 minutes for a total first bike leg time of 1:54:01.
My wife met me with our van at the trailhead where I could change, grab nutrition & hydration, and safely store my bike. Transition 1 was a bit of a struggle due to some stomach issues combined with crew arrival timing. 16 minutes from when I arrived on bike to being changed and starting on the run.
Run leg was my favorite part of the route. First mile was very runnable with shallow gradient and clear trails. After first mile there was a lot of blowdown to get over. Most of it seemed to have been there for a while and there was clear spots to get up and over the trees without eroding the trail by going around. Paid careful attention not to miss the cutoff trail as others had noted doing in their reports. Navigation going up on the cutoff was tricky due to the downed trees, but if you paid attention there was cairns that could be followed. Final mile on the Aspen Butte trail was combo of some smaller rock patches and loose sandy single track. Hard work on the way up but going to be so much fun going down. Hit the summit in 1 hr 23 minutes. Run down was punctuated by jumping over downed logs. Made it from summit to trailhead in 55 minutes for a total run leg time of 00:02:17:29.
Again met my wife for a change of clothes back to bike bibs, nutrition, and hydration. 2nd transition went much smoother and I was back on the road in just under 8 minutes.
Bike back to town proved more challenging than I expected. There are a lot of small roller hills that hit my already tired quads hard. I kept my head down and tried to be as "aero" as possible on a gravel bike with wide handlebars. Final mile of the ride is back into town with traffic lights, and I fought some craps when I put my legs down at each one. Overall I was pleased with the ride arriving back at the start point in 00:01:43:20
Total time was 6 hours and 22 minutes for a great day of riding and running. Loved the aesthetic quality of this route starting from town and tagging a summit all human powered. If you really wanted the best possible time and were okay with the full possibilities of “supported” you could definitely crush the bike splits using several riders, or even motor pacing (booo). I enjoyed doing the physical aspect solo and feel that not relying on other bikers to draft was the best way to honor the route’s existing unsupported effort and ethic, while still involving my wife [Samantha] in the overall experience.